The Office of the Provost and the Penn Libraries announce the forthcoming implementation of Canvas, a University-wide learning management system (LMS) that will allow faculty and students across Penn to use one integrated set of tools to manage all their courses. Currently, some Schools and programs use Blackboard, while others (including the Graduate School of Education, the Law School, and the Wharton School) have already made the transition to Canvas.

Over the past year, the Penn Libraries conducted a comprehensive pilot test of Canvas. Most instructors in the pilot found that Canvas offered better teaching tools than Blackboard and met or exceeded their course development needs. Based on this pilot and the positive experiences of faculty in GSE, Law, and Wharton, the Provost and the Council of Deans charged a group of IT administrators from the Schools to work with ISC and the Penn Libraries to evaluate the possibility of a single University-wide LMS. The official announcement appeared in the July 16 edition of the Almanac.

As a result of this consultative and collaborative process, Canvas will be implemented as the Universitys LMS during the 2013-2014 school year. Canvas, along with Blackboard, will be available for instructors wishing to use them for Fall 2013 and Spring 2014 courses. By Summer 2014, Canvas will be fully implemented across the University, and Blackboard will no longer be available. Schools and programs currently using Canvas will see no change.

The Libraries have created a number of resources to help instructors learn more about Canvas.